“Joy to the world—the Lord has come!” We sing these words every year, but what does it mean that the Creator came to his creation as a baby? How exactly does the “earth receive her King?” What does it sound like when rocks, hills, floods, and plains echo his praise? And what would it mean for you to join in the chorus?

Lysa Terkhuerst is an amazing woman who has weathered storms, endured deep disappointment and knows personally the raw emotion of heartbreak. And yet, she has maintained a vibrant faith and continues to encourage others to love the Lord and to treasure His Word. She is my guest this week on both “The Significant Women” Podcast and here on my blog. She has written a new book, “Good Boundaries and Goodbyes”. I pray that you will love Jesus more after you read her blog and that you will indeed discover joy for your journey.

A life worth living has a purpose worth living for. But at times life is hard and doesn’t feel worth living. If we’re just trying to survive, then it means we lack something crucial--a sense of purpose.

Join Susan Myers on the blog this week as she shares 3 creative ways to remember God’s faithfulness. “He takes it all - my forgetfulness, my flaws, and my entire surrendered life - and somehow He weaves it all together for good. If that isn’t miraculous, I really don’t know what is.”

Looking back, we can clearly see how the lies we believed led us to place our worth in our appearance, define ourselves by our careers, and ultimately take on a counterfeit identity. How can you tell if you’ve taken on a counterfeit identity?

Since we lack a trusting-God-gene; one to make trusting God our default setting, trusting Him takes intentionality and a bit of work.

We must boost our wonderful trust-building memories of God until they drown out the painful trust-eroding memories.

When you think of revival, what pictures come to mind? Giant crowds? Megachurches? Emotional pleas from polished preachers? Lots of church folks involved, right? We’d hope so. We all have our preconceived ideas of what revival ought to look like. Ezekiel certainly did. He thought revival would happen in Jerusalem. The religious epicenter of his nation. He thought it looked like political freedom, economic prosperity and religious fervor. And he was wrong.

From Christy Christopher: It is so easy to fixate on what I am seeing with my eyes and feeling with my emotions. The temptation to hyper-focus on the waves and wind is almost irresistible.

From special guest blogger, Angela Donadio… an excerpt from Fearless – Ordinary Women of the Bible who Dared to do Extraordinary Things.

From special guest blogger, Becky Harling…Have you noticed? People are smiling again. In many states, as people have gotten vaccinated, the mask mandate has been lifted. I think many have wrestled with loneliness during the pandemic. Loneliness is the ache in our souls to feel connected and to belong. And you know what? That ache was given to us by Almighty God who wants us to feel connected to Him and others.

From special guest blogger, Jessie Seneca…What I realized was God was trying to get my attention with how many times in the middle occurred. From experiencing God in the middle of life’s experiences, to keeping Him at the center of it all, the middle became my focus for new teaching and personal growth.